Moon (Rewrite)
by leafgreenflower
Summary: Rewrite! Adrien's emotions are sharpened by the moonlight, and it doesn't go unnoticed. But Hawkmoth's newest victim is not like the others... Akumatised!Adrien, songfic. Currently K-plus but as I keep going it may get upgraded to T.
1. Hymn to Her - the Pretenders

**A/N: Nearly 1000 views in, and the bleedin' obvious has been pointed out to me, which is that you can't put song lyrics directly in a fic! (Shouldn't have needed to be pointed out, but I wasn't paying attention. My bad.) So this is the rewrite of Moon. I had to rewrite it because the lyrics were replacing text in a number of places, so there's several sections that need a full rewrite instead of just taking the lyrics out. I'll be putting up chapters as I rewrite them. I recommend if you're interested in this fic (or any others I write) that you follow it, because this FF site seems to decide the story's not updated if you put up the next chapter less than 24 hours later. I often post daily, 23 hours apart seems to happen at least once every few chapters, and I'll be replacing chapters of this faster than that (if I get the chance to. I should, y'know, also do the work I'm paid for...).**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Miraculous anything.**

* * *

 **Put Hymn to Her – The Pretenders on your headphones, and look out the window at the moon...**

Adrien lay on his back in bed, awake. Still awake.

Still awake.

A single beam of moonlight fell through his window blinds. He idly reached one hand up and cupped the moonlight in his palm, turning it this way and that to see how it looked. The moonlight rested there against his skin, weightless and bright, almost alive. It sang to him.

He carefully swung his legs off the bed and stood, keeping his hand as still as he could so as not to lose the moon in it.

The brightness made everything else fall into shadow, and the walls of his magazine-perfect bedroom seemed to fall away into nothing. He couldn't care less for any of it – not the trinkets, not the perfectly-styled distractions. Right now, they were only shadow, and he was following this light. He walked quietly towards the window, lifting his hand through the moonbeam as he went.

He slipped the blind up, and the moonlight fell in a broad stroke across the white carpet. He looked up at the full moon. It called him out and yet somehow held him away, as if the window was an unbreakable barrier between them.

Without taking his eyes from the moon, he lay down in the swathe of light. It fell across his skin, left mostly bare on a warm night. It was as if he could feel it everywhere it touched, as if the moonlight were another person there with him, easing his isolation and assuring him he wasn't alone. It filled him with longing.

Longing for her. As unreachable as ever, always on the other side of something invisible between them. The music flowed through him as the light washed over him, and the two together sharpened his loneliness into a longing that could pull on the heartstrings of the stars.

It tugged on the senses of a man listening to the skies through a large window. He smiled.

"Love for someone who flies ahead of you. But that's the problem isn't it?" the man murmured. "It means you're the one that is always left behind".

A butterfly flapped once, flapped again. Glided. Dark shadow in the moonlight.

It touched the skin of his palm, where he'd cupped the moonlight so carefully. Something lost was about to be found.

"You want her more than anything. Lune, I give you the power to blind her with the same longing you feel. All I need in exchange is her Miraculous."

"And I will get it for you", Adrien replied. "But don't call me Lune.

"Call me Her".

The power coursed through him, reforming around him into a glowing white robe. He grimaced. With a thought he turned the robe into a tuxedo, perfectly styled and fitted to him. The moonlight bled across his white hair, his midnight eyes. It blurred with the lines of the tuxedo. He leapt for the window and pushed it open with no effort, almost floating through the air.

In a moment he was gone, lost into the night, hidden by every patch of moonlight that touched a wall, every moonbeam that glanced from a window or puddle. Only the moon could see where he went, and she wasn't telling anyone.

Startled out of his sleep, Plagg looked out of the window after his Chosen.

"SHIT!" he yelled.


	2. To the Moon and Back - Savage Garden

**Let the off-kilter beats of To the Moon and Back by Savage Garden fill your skin...**

Her moved with the moonlight. He had one focus, and one only. To find her, find the one that completed him. Her.

He needed her. She would understand when he found her. She had to. They were meant to be part of each other, and he didn't have to hear it from any book or wise old man or teenage blogger to know it.

The music filled him. There were still a few people on the streets, the late hour not dissuading all. Some noticed him, the unearthly colouring and floating, lightweight movement, and flinched away, reaching for phones in their pocket to snap a quick photo, send a quick text. As they did, they'd drift a little further away, take a different turn, wary eyes tracking where he went. Never turning their backs until they thought they were a safe distance. He laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. Judgement was such an empty thing.

It was all he had.

Unless Her found her.

And soon, if the texts and messages found their way where they should, he would.

He would tell her what she needed to hear. What he knew she needed. She must also be so alone, apart from everyone. She needed him as much as he needed her. Together, they could fly.

Together, they would feel like they belonged.

Belonging. He didn't belong. He knew that, now. Not at home, not at school, though goodness knows he'd tried. Tried over, and over again, to make that simple connection with people.

And failed.

The moonlight bled into him, and any remaining colour bled out. He whitened into a bright silhouette against a wall.

A gasp reached his ears over the sound of the music. He looked up to see one of Them. The people who had remained so very distant even as he saw them every day, who never tried to reach past. Curls framed her shocked face, and she lowered the everpresent camera, seeking his eyes.

It was a mistake.

His light reached up to her, spreading up the walls. He watched it almost idly, wondering how it would move, what form it would take with this girl.

It didn't occur to him that he should care.

As the moonlight glinted off her glasses and enveloped her, he turned away, no longer curious. She would have been streaming to her blog. People across the city would have seen her taken over by his light. The alerts would be going out.

And She would hear them. And come to Her.


	3. Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest

**Chilled out night? Relax with the old classic "Dancing In The Moonlight" by the French band King Harvest (lyrics by Sherman Kelly), let it keep you company.**

Her floated with every step, light of foot as only a moonbeam could be. There were quite a few people following him now, touched by his brightness. He hadn't quite worked out what the light was doing to them, but they seemed peaceful. Happy to be there. Only the glow around their faces and their sheer number said that there was anything unusual going on at all.

Ironic, really.

And She didn't seem to have noticed.

Which was as it always went. Perhaps this time he should increase his efforts.

Halfway down the street he was on there was a plaza. The City Council had agreed to place a piano on it, that passersby could play. Piano was something that Her knew very well. He leapt at a lamp post and swung around it, touching back down lightly next to the old wooden upright. Some of the crowd smiled at him warmly. Others applauded, or nudged each other as if to say "Hey, did you see that?" There was a sense of camaraderie amongst them. Not restless, not charged or tense in the way a mob can form out of nowhere. Just relaxed.

Her could change that, he thought.

He raised the cover and flexed his fingers, then began to stroke notes out of the old worn keys. The notes flowed and tickled through the air, first a few at a time and then pouring out as a rushing stream, a rollicking brook. He lifted his voice and began to sing. An older song, the kind that the radio stations played on nostalgia nights, that never failed to set people's feet itching to move.

He felt as much as heard the crowd begin to spread across the plaza, dancing. The blogger girl and her boyfriend were right there in the middle, smiling at each other. The moon shone down on them all, bathing their impromptu party in bright light.

It was a relaxed, friendly, chilled-out vibe. Strangers line danced or spun with each other, smiling and meeting eyes as if they'd known each other for years. Sometimes people rested, but never alone. There was always someone stopping to rest a hand on a shoulder, give a quiet greeting, share a smile or a laugh. A few people gathered around his piano – always together, never alone – and sang along with him.

The music poured across the plaza, amplified now by the voices of almost half of Her's crowd. The feeling was almost overwhelming – but still joyous. Someone tripped, and someone else caught them laughing. This was the sort of crowd that would never ignite. They'd see the spark, the trigger that should have started the explosion, and they'd invite it to dance with them.

And it would.

He let the notes pour out of his fingers, tilting his head back in an almost sensory pleasure at the feeling.

And from his tilted, almost upside-down position, he caught a glimpse of a face on the roof behind. A familiar face, hidden half by a chimney and half by a mask, watching. Observing.

He smiled.

 **A/N: And there She is! Finally! Don't kill me, I know this seems slow. But trust me, a LOT has been happening in the background that Adrien/Her doesn't know about. You'll find out about it all next chapter, when a few other people get their chance to sing...**


	4. Holding Out For A Hero - Bonnie Tyler

**A/N: Like all my stories so far, this is set vaguely post-Season 1. I haven't yet seen any of Season 2 - still waiting for it to become legally available in my area on a channel I can access.**

 **I've been doing short chapters up til now. This one was also supposed to be short, but it had too many viewpoints happening all at once. So if you like long chapters, this one is for you. If you like short chapters, please think of this as me giving you three updates at once! The next chapters will go back to being short again.**

 **Reminder also: this is a rewrite because you can't quote song lyrics in a fic! Please learn from my mistake before you find yourself rewriting seven chapters... :-)**

* * *

 **Put Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler on your headphones – because out there, tonight, people are looking for good men, for gods... and for the hero they need right now.**

Plagg flew out of the window, looking cautiously ahead. He needed to find Ladybug and warn her, despite the kwami code of non-interference. This was bigger than any silly little rule. And he really wanted to talk with Tikki about this – Adrien was going to need a whole lot of help afterwards. But Plagg also needed to stay away from Adrien so that he couldn't transform. An akumatised Chat Noir would be disastrous.

Unfortunately, Adrien and Ladybug were probably going to be in the same place, seeing as they were looking for each other. This was going to make it a lot harder to get to her without running into, well, Her. Plagg swore a little under his breath. Not knowing each other's identities made this so much harder. If _he_ knew who Ladybug was and where she lived, he could at least head that way and try and catch her enroute.

But he didn't.

He sighed, and followed Adrien at the furthest distance he could without losing him, hoping against hope that he'd be able to get to Ladybug before Adrien did.

* * *

Nino smiled at Alya. She was outside on her balcony already, phone in hand, livestream running on her blog, camera pointed at the crowd of very slightly glowing people. They were supposed to be doing some homework. In fact, he was supposed to have been leaving – it was late and her parents only gave them so much leeway – but he was fairly sure that if they realised there was an akuma outside, there'd be no question about him staying.

"Oh my god" he heard her say. Then, "NINO!"

He was out of his chair before he realised it, and at the doorway by her – though he held himself back from stepping into view from outside. Natural caution.

And then he saw it. The young man leading the parade. The very _familiar_ young man. His heart jumped into his mouth. Adrien was his friend, goshdarnit, with the strongest heart of anyone he knew. Except maybe for Marinette. He knew what sort of crap Adrien's father put him through, and the guy was still superhumanly nice.

This was bad.

Alya said to her camera "The akumatised person appears to be famous model Adrien Agreste, and it's not clear what powers Hawkmoth has given him. Ladybug fans, there's no sign of the girl in spots yet." While she scanned for Ladybug, Nino looked up to the rooftops, hoping to see Chat Noir. He knew Adrien better than most. His bro was scary-skilled and smart underneath that polished facade. This wouldn't be a one-hero job.

Adrien looked up and saw them on the balcony, and raised a hand. The moonlight around him seemed to intensify, and the glow flowed up towards them. Nino stepped back into the shadow, reaching for Alya. Focused on the view through her camera, she pulled away from his hand. The unearthly brightness touched her foot.

* * *

The papers dug into Marinette's face, head slumped on her desk, asleep on her homework. She murmured in her sleep, brushing the paper away, pillowing her head on the textbook. Tikki glanced over and smiled at her Chosen. She knew those murmurs. Marinette wouldn't admit it, but Tikki knew who she was dreaming of.

* * *

Alya turned as if she could hear music, a broad smile spreading across her face as she looked up at the moon. She didn't notice when she dropped her phone. Nino did, and caught it in reflex just before it hit the balcony floor, pulling his hand back into the shadow as quickly as he could.

The phone was still livestreaming. He turned the camera towards himself. "Hey everyone. The Ladyblogger's been affected by tonight's akuma. He puts out some kind of light. Stay out of it and you might be OK." He took a deep breath. "Ladybug! We need you. This could be really bad."

Alya tugged at the phone. He looked up. She was looking at him with a dreamy look on her face. It sent shivers up his spine. Good ones. She tugged on the phone again. He hit the "Stop recording" button, and let go of her phone. As she put it back in her pocket, he grabbed his own phone and sent a text. Adrien was going to need help from another strong hearted friend. If she could get the words out.

 **To: Marinette**

 **: Adrien's an akuma**

Alya tugged on his hand. She still had that look in her eyes. Not blank – if anything, almost more herself than normal. It was... addictive. He took half a step closer to her, to the moonlight pouring around her, and froze as he realised where he was. His fingers flew across his phone screen.

 **: He needs you**

Alya tugged on his hand again, and the smile on her face filled him with longing. She stepped back, and, distracted by putting his phone back in his pocket, he moved to close the distance. The moonlight caressed him, and suddenly he wondered why he'd been worried.

"Nino?" Alya said, pulling him into a hug.

"Mmm?"

"We belong together. You know that, right?"

He tangled his fingers in her hair. She made him feel complete, whole. As long as they were with each other, they would never feel alone.

"Mm-hmm." He started to pull her in a little closer, but she suddenly stepped back and pointed down to the crowds.

"They're dancing!"

He knew what she wanted, and he knew that she knew he knew. It tickled him that they could be this in tune with each other. All those half steps carefully around each other, trying not to talk about who or what they were to each other just in case. And on the other side of all that fear... was _this_. He closed his eyes in bliss.

Only for them to pop open as he was yanked away by one hand, his girlfriend – yes, his _girlfriend_ , no question of that anymore – pulling him towards the door. "Come on, let's go! Mama, I'm just walking Nino downstairs." He saw the lie alive in her glinting eyes, and laughing, ran with her. He'd follow her into any adventure, he knew that now. And there was a dance to join.

* * *

Marinette reached out her hand. Adrien smiled at her, and reached to take it. She shivered, looking into his eyes. Green eyes. Being pulled away from her. She let out a meep without realising, and reached harder. Their fingers almost met, his hand retreating even as she ran forwards. She made one more desperate grab.

And made contact. Adrien's black glove was cool in her palm, but the feel of the faux-leather sent heat all the way through her. She looked up into his eyes, green all the way across under the mask... no, that wasn't right... and something cheeped at her.

She opened her eyes.

She was still at her desk. The Literature assignment was still only partly done. And it was imprinted on her face. That had been a weird dream. She still wasn't sure if it had been Adrien or Chat. She sighed, stretched, picked up her phone to check the time. It was after midnight.

So, if she was dreaming of her partner... no, she couldn't have been. Marinette reached out and clutched denial to herself as tightly as she could. She couldn't have been dreaming about that cat, with those supermodel good looks and sweet smile that sent shivers up her spine in class... gah. She wasn't awake enough to think about this. She shook herself, and, noticing the message icon lit up on her phone, pressed it.

There was a text from Nino, and an alert from the Ladyblog.

The heat in her spine instantly turned to freezing water.

"Tikki!", she called out.

The little kwami yawned and struggled out from under her tiny blanket. "What is it, Marinette?"

"There's an akuma. Let me see what's going on." She clicked on the Ladyblog alert, and Tikki flew over to watch with her.

Both of their mouths dropped open as they heard Alya name the akumatised person. When the moonlight stole Alya and Nino grabbed the phone, his message struck right into Marinette's heart.

He needed a hero.

She dropped her phone onto the desk.

"Tikki, what do I do?" she said beseechingly. "I can't fight Adrien!"

The little kwami looked at her, almost as stricken. "I know", she said.

A sudden hope flew through her. "Maybe Chat Noir's already on his way. Or there. Tikki, spots on!"

A flourish and a flash, and she grabbed for her yoyo, dialing Chat's number. If he could stop Adrien and get the akuma, she'd be able to purify it. She knew she really couldn't fight the love of her life. She needed Chat. Hopefully he'd be able to fight for her without her having to explain why.

There was no answer.

Nor the second time.

As she started to dial Chat a third time, Tikki released the transformation and her yoyo vanished.

"I know you can't fight Adrien", she said. "But you still have to stop him. He's hurting people."

Marinette blew out a long breath, then nodded in determination. "You're right." She looked up to the night sky, where the bright moon rode towards the west. "Let's go find him."

* * *

Plagg flew to the next chimney, still keeping his distance from the moonlit crowd, and searched the night once again for his beloved's Chosen. Where _was_ she?

He'd been watching the people that Adrien collected for nearly an hour now. Thankfully, none of them seemed to be doing anything they didn't want to do. They weren't dancing themselves sore, or harassing and attacking people they didn't know, or hurting anyone in any way. There seemed to be a lot of friendliness. Conviviality. Whatever this power was doing to them, nobody was getting hurt.

He wouldn't admit it where anyone except Tikki could hear him, but he was kinda proud of the kid.

Now, if only she would turn up before something changed.

Plagg turned again to look thoughtfully at the moon. He had a theory about it. Perhaps it wasn't a bad thing that Ladybug was tardy. In fact, he was sure his new theory was right.

Now, if only he had someone to tell it to.

* * *

With no other obvious guide to follow, Ladybug swung across the city towards the moon. She knew Adrien had been not far from Alya's but that livestream had ended before she woke up. And it'd taken her a long time to realise what was going on once she did wake up. She blamed the dream. Adrien could be in one of several neighbourhoods by now.

She paused on a rooftop to dial Chat again. She really really needed him for this one. Her goofy partner, who despite his jokes was a seriously good fighter. Ok, his personality could be a bit overwhelming at times, but there was nobody she'd rather have with her. Especially this time. She knew he could be as gentle as a kitten with the people Hawkmoth took over, if they weren't trying to attack him on sight, and she really didn't want Adrien hurt.

He still didn't answer.

She found them soon enough. The sound of a piano drew her. It was a jazzy, discoish kind of number, almost poppy – something she was sure she'd heard on her parents' radio. By the time she got close enough to be sure where it was coming from, the piano had been joined by what sounded like dozens of voices singing along. She flattened herself to a rooftop to watch.

Below her and across the plaza, they danced. They were friendly with each other, no harsh words or aggressive actions. Some people were dancing with each other in a group, others sitting back and watching, applauding the good moves. There was a lighthearted party feel to the crowd. Nobody seemed forced to be there, nobody seemed to be seeking trouble. She'd have thought it was just a normal crowd if it hadn't been for the light glow touching all of their faces. That of course and the unearthly bright figure right in the middle, pulling each note out of the piano like his fingers were diamonds.

An akuma that hurt or forced nobody. How Adrien. She loved him more in that moment than she'd known she could.

But she kept Nino's words at heart and stayed in the shadow of a chimney, away from the moonlight that flowed like a living thing around them. That seemed almost to be fueling them.

As she thought that, she noticed something. The moon's shadows were stretching as it slowly lowered to the horizon. Whenever one got near Adrien, he was stepping back into the light. Back where it could shine on his face.

Which meant that he needed the light more than he was letting on.

She sat up slightly as she thought this, and the moonlight – the real light from above her – caught against her skin. At the same moment, Adrien tilted his head back – and smiled widely.

He'd seen her.

With a flourish, he let go of each note as if it was a kiss, and blew them towards her. Then he... _sauntered_ towards her, a sultry glide she'd not seen the perfect schoolboy use before.

He walked as if the plaza was a catwalk for an audience of one. It held her eyes. Held her nerves in place. She felt like she couldn't move, couldn't breathe.

And then he began to step upwards through the air, glow coalescing under his feet as if he walked on an invisible staircase. Only stepping on the moonlight, walking in wide circles around any shadows that stole the light from the air. Slowly, slowly coming closer.

She'd never thought that it was possible to seduce someone by simply walking up a set of stairs. But every movement of his was compelling. The moonlight was a cold, cold white – but she knew it burned hot. She pulled herself as deeply into the shadow as she could.

He kept his eyes on her as he walked upwards. But as he set foot onto her rooftop, his attention flickered to the west. Just for a moment. And then his eyes focused back on her again, and he gave her a smile. The smile of someone who loved her more than anything or anyone else. Her insides melted.

It was the look she'd always wanted him to give her.

And that nearly broke her heart.

She couldn't do this.

She needed a hero.

In the plaza below, Nino watched the love of his life, his other half, spin towards him. She stumbled, bumped him, and he fell into one of the deepening shadows for just a moment. The light that had touched his face, his skin, was pulled away as Her walked to the rooftops, and suddenly Nino was alone again.

Completely alone, in a crowd of people.

He looked up to the rooftops, where Ladybug must be hiding. "Please hurry", he whispered to the air. He felt the first tear falling down his cheek. "This hurts."

He needed a hero.

On a rooftop on the other side of the plaza, Plagg watched in horror. Ladybug had come from the other direction. He couldn't see her, but he could tell by Her's focus that she must be there. There was no way he could reach her in time, not any more. Not without coming in sight and reach of Her.

But he was going to try.

He needed his Chosen's hero.

Marinette wanted to break down and cry. Hawkmoth had set her against the one person she could never fight. Set her against her own heart. She couldn't lift a finger against him.

But she had to.

Tears streaking down her face, she reached for her yoyo, pulling herself carefully up against the chimney. "Chat, where are you?" she whispered under her breath.

Her walked towards his love, his one and only. He saw the tears, and his heart ached for her. They were already so close. Just one touch of the hand, and she would have no more need for tears. They'd be together, inside and out, truly joined the way he knew they should be.

But... something drew his eyes away again.

Ladybug clutched her yoyo as Adrien came towards her. Just a few steps away now. His eyes lifted, held hers, and the light in them threatened to set her heart ablaze. She wanted to see that look on his face every day.

And then he glanced away to the west, and frowned.

She followed his gaze and saw the moon hanging low.

The noise from the plaza below them began to change. Their eyes met for a second and then they both looked towards the crowd.

The dancers were beginning to slow. Many had stopped. Some were crying.

Ladybug looked at the moonlight that clung to Adrien, the unearthly magical light haunting his footsteps and skin. Was it... dimmer than before?

His face lost its confident look, his expression became stricken. He reached out to her, fingertips touching just the edge of the shadow she pressed herself into.

As they touched the shadows edge, they turned black. He pulled them back swiftly and they returned to white again.

Their eyes met one last time – and then he ran. White light gathering around him, being pulled from everywhere and everyone it had settled upon. He glowed brighter, and leapt into the night, disappearing completely from sight as he passed through the setting moon's reflection on an office building's glass facade.

And then he was gone.

Ladybug sagged back against the chimney, no longer caring if any part of her was touched by the moon. The real moon, the one nearly full. She sagged back, starting to wipe her eyes... and something small and black fell into her lap.

She lifted it up – and a little cat-like kwami rolled over in her hand to meet her wide-eyed look. It spoke in an exhausted voice, saying only "Chat Noir's going to need your help". And then it closed its eyes again, breathing hard.

Down in the plaza, people leaned in exhaustion against each other just like the kwami.

No, not exhaustion.

Grief.

Ladybug stood on shaky legs, tucking the little black kwami into her hair so that he could ride with her, and swung down to the plaza.

Every one of them was grieving.

As she looked around in dawning horror, listening to the words people let fall with their tears, she realised what this akuma had truly done.

Every one of them had felt safe, together. Their loneliness, their isolation had been taken away. In the moonlight they were no longer separate. They were completed. Whole.

But now they were alone again. And it _hurt_.

She saw people exchanging phone numbers, barely able to meet each other in the eyes but promising to check up on each other in the morning. One man, crumpled so small he might almost as well have not been there, was being made to promise that he would make it to the morning. That camaraderie wasn't forgotten, the whole crowd was still looking out for each other – but now they knew what they were missing. They knew they were lost on the inside with no map to find home. And even surrounded by all the people they'd shared something with, they were alone.

Unbearably alone.

Oh, Adrien.

Sobbing, Ladybug threw her yoyo and swung high. There was nothing more she could do for them without capturing Adrien's akuma, and he was gone with the moon. She had a kwami to look after, and a cat to help.

Alya looked at Nino. "Baby?" she said, reaching towards him. "I'm right here".

"I know", he said, tears falling. "But I can't feel you any more".

"I can't feel you either", she said, hand falling to her side.

"Did I imagine it?" The thought struck him to the core. Perhaps it had never been real. But it had seemed so strong, so perfect.

She sighed, and he wondered if that was an answer or if she had the same question. He no longer knew what his girlfriend – no, _Alya_ – thought.

"Come on, let's go home".


	5. Can't Fight the Moonlight - LeAnn Rimes

**LeAnn Rimes – Can't Fight The Moonlight**

The white-clad young man curled up around his cushion, hugging it to him. One lone sunbeam shone through the window where he'd rubbed a little of the dust and grime off. It captured motes of dust, slowly spinning in their endless lazy eddies. He watched them.

The storage room above the community theatre was a hideout Her had found once. He didn't remember when. He wasn't trying to remember either – he didn't care, and Hawkmoth didn't need to know. Right now it made a good place to hide. There were no shows on, nobody would be coming up here looking for props. The old couch was long enough to lie on, and not too dusty if you took the covers off.

It was a good place to dream while he waited.

* * *

Marinette checked the website on her phone again. Moonrise was going to be about an hour before sunset, so Her's powers wouldn't be very strong until twilight. Which gave them time. After they got home, Tikki had insisted she sleep while the two kwamis talked. Marinette hadn't thought she would, but she had. Now there were just a few more things to prepare.

Her smiled to himself. She would come. She would try to fight Her. She would try to resist, to hide.

But she couldn't fight the moonlight.

She would lose.

She had already lost, and she didn't know it. She'd step out of the darkness and surrender her heart.

He had already lost his heart to her. This would simply make them even. Equals. He wanted nothing less of her.

The air stirred slightly, the motes falling and turning faster. He smiled. No matter what she thought, it wouldn't be too long til she was in his arms.

He couldn't wait.

* * *

Marinette looked at the two kwamis. "Are you absolutely sure this will work?" she said.

Plagg nodded. "It's our best chance. We're fairly sure that Adrien was longing for someone, and that that someone was Ladybug."

Tikki added, hesitantly "And you know that he can't force you to love him..."

Marinette blushed, but finished the sentence. "...because I already do". She sighed. "I wish Chat Noir could be with me for this one. It's a shame he was one of the first people affected by the akuma."

"Just don't forget what I told you", Plagg said. There was a note of worry in his voice. "You saw what happened to the people afterwards. You can cure all the buildings you like, but Chat won't forget how he felt. He's going to need you." The little kwami flew up to her face, holding her eyes.

"Find him, and don't let him push you away."

* * *

The dust motes drifted. The sunbeam slowly measured the hours as the planet turned. Her lay still, thinking of his lady love.

She would come. She would challenge him. She would stand gloriously bright, and she would be his forever.

She couldn't fight the moonlight.


	6. Big Bad Moon - Joe Satriani

**Big Bad Moon – Joe Satriani is this chapter's song.**

 **You can read the chapter. Or you can put this song on, crank it up and imagine Her walking towards where the battle's gonna be. )**

His eyes opened. The sunbeam that marked the passing of the hours was dim, at a low angle. The hairs on Her's skin rose, and a faint glow began to collect around them. It was electric, shivery, a little strange.

He smiled.

Climbing out of the window and onto the roof, he stretched. It felt _good_. The moon was a handswidth above the horizon, looming large. Potent. The sun still stole its glory, the sky still deepening blue, the last gold reflections tinting windows blinding bright. But the moon was there, and a force to be reckoned with.

As was Her. He stood, arms outspread, gathering in the light to himself. Needing it all. Waiting for his strength to become sublime.

An electronic billboard on a roof opposite caught his eye. The ad that had been showing faded out to a live camera feed with the Ladyblog watermark. It showed a city square, with trees, a fountain, a subway entrance. He didn't recognise it at first – Paris had a few such squares – but then in-screen text appeared naming it as _Place Des Abbesses_.

He suddenly realised that the lone figure sitting on a bench wasn't just in leaf-dappled shadow, but in spots.

The moon hung bold, bad, like a blessing on his mood. It beckoned.

He walked down through the air, and down the empty street. The moonlight seemed to follow him, lapping at his feet, splashing against walls in white silence.

Silence. Why were the streets so quiet? They should have been full of people, rushing home, rushing from work, rushing to buy food or to meet lovers or to chase dreams. Everywhere he looked, doors were closed, windows blind. Where were all the people he could show the truth to in the moonlight? Hiding? He laughed. There was nowhere to hide.

He reached into the magic, into the moonlight, and _pulled_. Further down the street, a door opened. Someone came racing out towards him. They looked vaguely familiar.

"I'm so glad to see you!" they called. "We didn't know where to look for you, so we've been watching and hoping. Let me text the others." They fell into step behind him, texting as they walked. Smiling.

Her didn't know them by name. But the look on their face said that they'd danced with him the night before.

And that they needed to feel the moonlight again.

The ripples went out by text, passing from phone to phone, pocket to pocket. Most of Paris stayed indoors, where the moonlight couldn't touch them, following the advice given by Ladybug and the police during the day. But those who'd danced, who'd felt the gift he gave...

...they grabbed each other's hands, running for the door even as friends or family tried to hold them back from the calling moon.

And they came.

They fell into a group around and behind Her, slowly trickling from wherever they'd come to join those that made them whole again. Together Her and his crowd walked to the Place des Abbesses, never hurrying, inevitable. Destiny awaited.


	7. Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benetar

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. I knew last week would be really busy with work and I'd have no writing time, so I was trying to get this story finished last weekend - but having to rewrite it took my time instead. There's at least one more chapter, possibly two (I have to decide whether to split it or not). Enjoy!**

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 **Love Is A Battlefield by Pat Benetar. This one... might be self-explanatory.**

Ladybug watched the moonlight slowly creep across the scuffs on the pavement towards her shadowed seat. Each scuff another minute closer to being taken over by one of Hawkmoth's pawns.

By Adrien.

She wanted to scream and run away in six different directions at once.

Footsteps broke the quiet of the plaza. Their sound was achingly familiar. Ladybug looked up from the pavement, eyes travelling up the legs of his white suit, across his perfectly cut tuxedo jacket (how unusually stylish, Hawkmoth?) and to his face. The moonlight and magic touched it with a faint glow. She stood up, facing him, and waited for him to say something. To demand her Miraculous.

A purple butterfly symbol glowed across his face.

He still didn't speak.

Behind him, she heard people, his crowds, his fans, the ones who wanted to be near him – oh, _Adrien_ – spreading out around the plaza. She didn't dare take her eyes off him. She had to hope that there were no more of them than yesterday, that the broadcast she and the police had sent out had done its job, that the news stations were showing Alya's feed as they'd agreed instead of sending their own reporters in to get taken over. She didn't want to hurt civilians, didn't want to hurt anyone. Plus, Chat Noir's civilian form was amongst them somewhere, trapped by the akuma's spell. Plagg had warned her that the akuma's effects would likely return with the moon, before snuggling into the small bed she'd made for him in her room safe far away. She resisted the temptation to peek over Adrien's shoulder, to look for that familiar grin and laughing eyes. Chat couldn't help her now. She was on her own.

The battle for Adrien had begun. Whatever else happened, she was determined that Hawkmoth would lose it.

"Come with me, beloved".

His voice took her by surprise, and she glanced for just a moment at his lips before turning her gaze back to the safety of his eyes.

No, that wasn't safety. They were dark with everything she'd ever wanted to see in them.

She looked at his cheek instead and put her hands on her hips, glancing to make sure she was still well shadowed. He seemed unfazed by the shadows himself this time, his glow unruffled – but it didn't reach out to touch her as long as she stayed away from the real moonlight. Plagg's observations had helped, there. She owed that little kwami a cheese croissant.

"Come with me", he said again, holding out a hand. The purple mask flickered over his face and he flinched aside as if hit, pulling his hand back. Then he looked back at her and said very quietly "Don't come with me. Run away, Ladybug, before he makes me take them".

She looked at him in shock. He smiled sadly at her. "You don't understand, do you". It wasn't a question.

He continued without waiting. "I always said I'd love the girl under the mask, no matter who she was. But I've always been afraid to find out whether your answer would be yes or no. If I take your Miraculous like he wants me to, I take away part of you. And I need to know that that part loves me too." She saw a hint of silver in his eyes, tears forming but not shed. "I want all of you to love all of me."

"You're right", she said. "I don't understand".

His smile was self-mocking, and it twisted her heart to see it. "If you stepped into the light, you would." He held out his hand again.

She looked at his hand as if it was a thorn. Sadness slid over his face as he pulled it away.

"No, wait!", she said. "I... it's just..."

"You can't love me. Even in the moonlight." His voice was broken.

"No!" she cried. "That's not it! I... I..." She looked down, foot toeing the ground, even now unable to get the words out.

He reached out and lifted her chin. She held her breath, but the moonlight in his touch did nothing but drift cool kisses against her skin. She met his eyes again. They were listening, waiting.

This was it. She took a deep breath, gathered her will and spirit within her. Everything the kwamis had told her pointed to this being the only way to defeat Adrien.

She stepped into his moonlight and let it flow over her. Let all her love for him show in her eyes.

Her held his breath. She – _SHE!_ \- stood before him, hesitant. Wild, glorious, all of his dreams. Her eyes begged him to let her hold him. He laughed, just as wild, finally feeling truly free for the first time. He knew without a doubt how much she loved him. Wanted to be near him, with him. As much as he had her. And it was euphoric. He shivered.

He reached out and took her hand, confirming what she already knew, and she stepped into the circle of his arms with a smile. They stood there for a moment, just holding each other. The love between them was an ocean and the waves were crashing down, sea foam and dark water submerging them in the moonlight. She shivered with him, that sense of almost losing control – and yet, there was no rush. No insistence on Now. They could breathe.

They belonged.

Her fingers trailed along his shoulder and down his arm, gentle, caressing, all the time in the world. They both knew they had it now. Had each other. Free of fear, they looked each other in the eyes. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. She smiled, and drew their hands close to her lips to share the gesture, never letting go of his eyes. Never letting go of him. She turned his hand over and kissed his palm.

A pure white butterfly rose out of his skin and fluttered away. Adrien collapsed into Ladybug's arms.


	8. I Believe - Joe Satriani

**There's this song I've always loved – called I Believe, performed by Joe Satriani – that runs through this fic and particularly this chapter. Fair warning: Satch is known for being a brilliant guitarist but his excursions into singing his own stuff were a bit hit and miss. This song is one of those. The lyrics have never quite seemed to make sense on their own, as if he was retelling some story we hadn't heard yet. It's been a joy writing something that might have been that story. I hope you've enjoyed it, please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

It had been hours, empty hours. His feet were full of all the things he couldn't think about, and his head was empty of any memory of the truth of things. Adrien finally stopped his restless walking at the top of a bridge over a rail line. The day was dissolving into night, the sky turning pink in both the west and the east as the sun fell over the horizon. In the eastern sky a full moon rose, tinted the palest of pinks by day's last gasp. He had a clear view of the moon from the bridge, rooftops falling away below him.

It gave him nothing.

Apparently, last night it had given him almost everything.

It was a pity he couldn't remember any of it.

He'd seen the news articles, the videos on social media and gossip sites. Nathalie had given him a list and advised him not to read most of it. They showed an Adrien he barely recognised and yet somehow knew all too well. Stories were running wild about how Paris' golden model had gone dark, or rather, light, how he'd given people a feeling they still couldn't forget. And especially they were talking about how he'd gotten the city's beloved superheroine to kiss him. By all rights he shouldn't have been able to be out here on the streets, alone and unbothered.

Yet somehow, here he was. It was as if nobody could see him.

He'd have enjoyed the change if that wasn't already how he felt all the time.

The soft hiss of a yoyo string retracting caught his ear. But he didn't look around. There was no reason for her to talk to him other than to check in on a recently akumatised person. Just business. That's if she wanted to talk to him at all. After all, he'd done her a great wrong. And he was, honestly, embarrassed. She must feel so much worse.

A hand touched him on the shoulder, very gently and briefly.

When he didn't turn, she leaned on the bridge barrier next to him, looking out at the pink moon.

"It's all right", she said quietly.

"No", he said, just as quietly.

There was a minute of silence, full and potent with things unsaid - but to his surprise, not an awkward one.

"I know you don't remember what happened, so I'd like to show you something", she said. "I'll have to take you somewhere, if that's all right?"

He couldn't trust himself to speak. But he must have given some sign or nod, because she put one arm around him. He froze – and then, very cautiously, put his arms around her, avoiding the straps of the traveller's bag she had over her shoulder. She tossed her yoyo, and suddenly they were hurtling off of the bridge. He yelped.

She giggled.

They landed in a park Adrien wasn't so familiar with, though it was sparking some kind of memory. And then it hit him. The opening scene of the Ladyblog's livestream. He'd pulled it up on his phone earlier – then closed the browser window. He hadn't been able to watch what he'd done.

"Yes", she said, watching him carefully. "This is where we were last night."

There were a few people drifting around the plaza. They looked like native Parisians, not tourists, but somehow they also looked slightly lost, almost... _thin_. As if they were shadows of themselves. Once or twice someone would look in his direction, they'd flinch with recognition, and then they'd turn away and keep drifting. Ladybug followed his gaze.

"They're people you affected last night. Quite a few of them have come back here."

"Why?" For a moment he was truly puzzled. The effects of the akuma's magic should have well and truly worn off.

"You gave them something, something they barely even understood they wanted until they got it."

She wasn't looking at him, but at the people. The compassion in her face made him feel ill, twisted up with longing for this amazing woman next to him and with the certain knowledge that he had ruined any chance of that longing ever coming to anything.

"They know there's no magic, but they're trying to come to grips with what it was that happened. And what to do next."

Some of the people were greeting each other. The sadness didn't leave their faces, but somehow he could see that they became less alone with each greeting, each casual touch. And there were many of those.

He hugged himself tightly, and let his eyes linger on his Lady. It might be the last time he saw her for a while. He didn't think he could keep this all hidden as Chat Noir. She seemed to feel his look and turned back to him, putting her bag down on a bench and reaching for him.

"There's something I want you to understand" she said, and for some reason she was blushing. "You didn't make anyone do anything last night that they didn't want to."

"The news articles said something about how people just danced", he admitted. "I didn't – I _couldn't_ watch any of the feed. But I hoped it was true."

"It was" she said.

They stood there for about thirty seconds in silence, her getting steadily redder, before he realised what she was referring to.

"OH", he said. "You mean..."

She looked at the ground. "ImeanIwouldhavedonethatforanyrandomcitizen notthatyou'rerandom Idon'tmean uhhhhh..."

It was the most incoherent he'd ever seen his Lady. And he wasn't sure what she'd actually just said. But it sounded rather like she...

A small trickle of warmth bled back into the cold ache in his heart.

Like she'd kissed him because she wanted to.

"Anyway", she said, shaking herself and looking like a confident superheroine again, "what I wanted to show you is over here." She took his hand and led him over to the wall of one of the buildings, holding his fingers so they trailed across the cool stone.

And suddenly, he realised _exactly_ where he was. Where they were.

At Le mur des je t'aime. The wall of I love you.

Written in more than 300 languages, carved by a calligrapher's expert hand into stone.

"I wanted you to know, to really know, that I meant everything I was telling you", she said.

"And the akumatised me fell for it?" he said. Had it been love, or a clever trick? His heart was falling in so many pieces, so many directions.

She shook her head, smiling. "I wouldn't have been able to trick the akumatised you. In the moonlight, we understood far too much of each other. And you didn't even seem to notice where we were. But that's not what I meant."

In some wonder, he looked at his Lady as she poked him gently in the chest and said "I meant _this_ you". She looked briefly over his shoulder, and he remembered the other people wandering in the park. All just a little lost, as he was.

As he had been a minute ago.

"I didn't want you to be lost too" she said, so quietly he almost didn't hear it.

A clock chimed somewhere on a nearby street, and she stiffened.

"I'm going to have to go", she said, looking worriedly at him. "I mean, it's not you, it's... well, my partner was affected by the akuma, so his, uh... he's going to.. uh... look, I can't stay." She started to reach for her yoyo.

"Wait", he said, gesturing back to the bench. "You've left your bag."

"Oh, it's not mine", she smiled, then corrected herself. "Well, it's not for me, anyway. It's for Chat Noir. He lost something important when the akuma's spell took him over." She looked worried for a moment. "I kept hi.. uh, it safe for him, but he needs it back. I'm...", and she very carefully did not look around her at the people coming into the plaza, "I'm expecting that he will come here tonight too."

"You aren't going to wait for him?" Adrien didn't know whether to sound surprised or lost. He didn't know what he felt.

"I would, but he'll be without his mask". She put a hand to her mouth, looking briefly embarrassed. "Please don't look for him, or tell anyone I said that. His privacy's as important as mine is. But we have patrol tomorrow night, so I hope by then he'll be up to coming out." A fond smile flickered across her face, and Adrien felt another trickle of warmth running through his heart.

She touched his shoulder one last time, then turned and walked away through the trees until she had a clear line of sight to the buildings around them. Adrien stood by the bag and watched until she was out of sight, the reassuring weight of a kwami slipping under his shirt and pushing against the skin of his chest.

The following night, under a large golden moon in a deep indigo sky, a girl in spots held a boy in black as he wept.

"Ssh", she murmured. "You're not alone."

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 **A/N: And that's the end of the fic! Thanks for following along with me. Please do leave a review and let me know how you think I went - whether you liked my choice of powers for akumatised!Adrien, whether you liked Ladybug's response, if you liked any of the songs and if they fit the action. This fic was a writing stretch for me in a lot of ways so I'd love to know your thoughts.**

 **Also: I'd love to know what you think happened on the night the moon rose yellow. (I'm leaving that one to your imagination :-) )**


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